This invention relates generally to furnaces for the burning of used oil and, more particularly, to a burner housing for use in conjunction with multi oil furnaces to facilitate service of the operative components of the furnace and for improving the flow of combustion air into the burner chamber for a more efficient burning of different oils, including used oil, therein.
Multi oil furnaces are similar to standard oil burning furnaces, but have been adapted to handle oil products that have been previously used in a traditional lubricating operation, such as used crankcase oil up to 50 SAE, used transmission fluid, and even #2, #4 and #5 fuel oils. Such oil products can have significantly varying viscosities and significantly varying burning characteristics, as well. Typically, used oil products are collected into a tank to be supplied to the furnace from a single source. As furnaces are normally operated when the ambient air temperatures are sufficiently cold to warrant the use of the furnace, the supply of used oil to the furnace is normally as cold as the ambient temperature, which requires a preheating of the used oil to more efficiently effect a burning of the used oil products.
The burner nozzle combines a flow of compressed air with the flow of preheated used oil to atomize the used oil and inject a stream of compressed air and atomized used oil droplets into the burner chamber of the used oil furnace where it is ignited to create a heat source. Known multi oil furnace burner nozzles utilize an in-line burner nozzle configuration coupled directly into the preheater block and are mounted to the furnace cabinet door to be positioned within the air flow stream of combustion air created by an external fan.
Furthermore, the required imposition of an igniter mechanism further impedes the air flow of the combustion air into the burner chamber. All of this structure creates turbulences within the air flow stream of combustion air to detract from the efficient operation of the furnace. Typically, air flow stabilizers or structure for redirecting the combustion air flow are required to proper placement and direction of the combustion air.
Service of the operative components of the multi oil furnace can be a significant problem since many of the in-line components of the known multi oil burner assemblies require at least some disassembly before reaching the component to be replaced. Furthermore, the operative controls of known multi oil furnaces have not been positioned or oriented with service foremost in mind. Accordingly, the provision of a compartmentalized burner housing with modular operative components would be desirable to improve service aspects of multi oil furnaces.
Furthermore, it would be desirable to devise a more aerodynamic orientation of the burner assembly and a more efficient flow of combustion air over the burner assembly to the burner chamber such that combustion air turbulences would be minimized and, thereby, increase the burning efficiency of the multi oil furnace.